Persona: Shadows of Ambition
by Stormasius
Summary: When Koichi Ozawa moves to the Coastal town of Kuronai, mysterious events begin to unravel around him. As the barrier between dream and reality begins to weaken, innocents are drawn into nightmares and face their greatest fears. Join Koichi on his journey to discover why this barrier between realities is weakening and restore it before it's too late in Persona: Shadows of Ambition.
1. The Fool's Journey Begins

Persona: Shadows of Ambition

Part 1: The Fool's Journey Begins

The darkness receded to the corners of the room as it was lit up softly by the lights overhead, a calming melody that appeared to belong to a piano began to play, followed shortly thereafter by a comforting solo of vocals, despite there being an absence of either pianist or vocalist. The room was simplistic, having only the barest of decoration. Each of the walls were lined in deep blue velvet, to which the furniture and decoration also conformed. Inside the room appeared to be a flat table covered by a blue velvet tablecloth and atop it rested a deck of cards while a neat stack of papers sat parallel to it. Three seats were also present in the ambient room, each held a person, each sat at a different edge of the table.

A young man sat tiredly as he rested his arms upon the soft covered table before him. His clothes had a smart appearance about them, he wore a white button up shirt, the top few buttons undone and grey business pants. His hair was short and dark brown and his eyes carried the same colour as he stared at the man before him.

More accurately, he was staring at the unnaturally long nose extending toward him. Sat opposite the adolescent was an old man, his body bizarrely shaped and out of proportion, with his lengthy and pointed nose being his most prominent feature. He had two long pointed ears to compliment his nose and his hair was long with a smooth grey colour, only growing on the back and sides of his head. He wore what appeared to be a black business suit, his hands resting within a pair of white gloves. Opening his eyes, the bizarre old man stared intently at the young man, bulging and bloodshot, they would unnerve even those with the highest of guts. The young man that sat opposite his elder took a deep breath in as the latter opened his mouth, wondering what words might be spoken.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room." The elder man began with a calming tone, smiling brightly at the addressee before continuing. "A place that exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. Before I continue, allow me to introduce myself to you. I am Igor and it is a pleasure to meet you."

"As it is for me, I shall be your liaison for when my Master is absent, you may call me Agatha." Another voice spoke, cutting into the conversation, directing it at the young man. Turning his head to the right, where the other seat had been positioned, he saw what appeared to be a young woman sat by him and Igor.

Agatha, as she had introduced appeared to be a woman in her mid-twenties with long platinum blonde hair tied back, her eyes appeared to be a bright yellow as she gazed at the young man, adjusting the small oval frame glasses that rested idly upon her nose as she did so. Shifting in her seat, the young man looked at the attire she wore, a black blouse behind a well fitting blue business suit jacket, the composition finished by the gold buttons that held it together. To further compliment the attire, she wore a blue pencil skirt that while made to fit, appeared to be uncomfortable for the fidgeting attendant.

"My apologies for Agatha's behaviour and her lack of manners, she hasn't yet adjusted to her new role." Igor told the young man with a bowed head, prompting Agatha to follow, also bowing her head in apology to him. "Now. As I said before, this place exists between dream and reality, separating the two completely, until recently that is. There has been a tear in reality not too long ago that is allowing not only the mind, but the matter of one to slip into the Dreamscape from the real world, which leads to… unfortunate consequences. Though for now, that isn't something for you to concern yourself with. Generally, only ones who have formed a contract can visit the Velvet Room, though from time to time, one such as yourself may enter here. Perhaps you will sign a contract of your own some day. Perhaps a hint of what lies in your future will be acceptable compensation for Agatha's behaviour before you leave." Igor told the young man with a calm voice as he removed the first card from the deck before him, handing it to the young man in question without revealing it to either himself or his servant.

Taking a hold of the card, the young man turned it over and briefly looked at the contents. Printed upon the card was The Fool, a Tarot of the major Arcana, and though the young man didn't realise it's meaning, it had signified the beginning of his journey, a Fool's Journey.

 **(April 8** **th** **) Saturday Evening – Cloudy**

An engine belonging to a small moving truck rumbled softly as the vehicle rolled forward slowly before easing to a halt. The young man that had resided in the Velvet Room now sat in the passenger seat of the vehicle, his eyes had been shut for quite some time. His clothing was far more casual than it had been while speaking with Igor, a green unzipped hoodie was worn over a plain white t-shirt while the teenager wore a pair of washed out blue skinny jeans and black sneakers.

As the engine cut, he gave a tired yawn, slowly opening his eyes to see his new surroundings. It appeared to be a quiet neighbourhood they had arrived in. Though he couldn't see everything around him due to the low light, the house that the vehicle had parked outside of was lit up, illuminating the building to show that it appeared to house quite a lot of space. Turning his head to the driver's side, he saw a woman in her late twenties at the wheel that had features similar to his own, dark brown hair held back loosely in a ponytail, a light complexion and dull green eyes. She was wearing a white tank top and a pair of tan shorts, which exposed the light muscular tone of her body. As she set the handbrake, the woman gave a tired yawn as she unbuckled her seatbelt and turned to see the waking young man.

"So, you're finally awake. Right on time too, we just got here. Hey Koichi, you still half asleep? I said we're here." The driver said, her voice sounding tired as the teen she addressed, Koichi, shook himself awake.

"Sorry Sis, guess I'm off somewhere else." Koichi apologised as the two disembarked from the moving vehicle and made their way to the front door of the house.

"Can't blame ya for that Koi, it's not been that long since everything at home happened, still feels a little unreal even now. Maybe getting outta the City and moving here will do us both some good though. I got a call from the movers while you were sleeping, just about everything's already in the house aside from what we brought along in the moving van. Here's the key, start unpacking boxes and that while I get everything out from the van. We've got a night ahead of us to get the house ready. Be glad you don't have to go to your new School till Monday." Koichi's Sister smirked, handing her younger sibling the key as he headed back toward the van.

Opening the door, Koichi stepped in, removing his shoes and for the time being, before walking bare footed through the house. Looking around the first room, which housed a couch along with multiple boxes and a few additional seats, he gave a sigh. "Alright, might as well start here." He muttered under his breath as he began to unpack and ready the lounge into a suitable living space.

Hours into the night, Koichi gave out a relieved sigh as he fell backwards onto his bed. He and his Sister had finally finished unpacking and the former was relieved to be finished with his labour for the day. He now wore simple darkly coloured nightwear as he reclined on his sheets.

His room was rather bare, having only a few framed pictures on the wall and his night stand while a Television was set up in the corner, a dark green beanbag chair set down in front of it. As he lie there, looking up to the ceiling, the door slowly opened and Koichi's Sister walked into the room. She appeared somewhat smartly dressed, wearing a dark purple low cut shirt along with a smart looking pair of trousers and a tight black jacket over the ensemble, her face now appeared refreshed compared to how she had appeared earlier while driving. Additionally, it appeared as if she had improved her looks further by applying light make-up to her face.

"Koichi, you remember how I told you that your principal was an old friend of Mom's? Well I'm off to get a drink with him, talk about your transfer, and my new job while I'm at it. He was pretty nice when we were younger. I don't know how long I'll be so go to bed whenever you feel like it, just make sure you can get up in the morning." His Sister explained to him before turning and heading to the doorway.

"Hey, Sis. I hope you're right about this place being a fresh start, we could use it. Besides you might actually have some luck in your personal life while you're here." Koichi smirked mischievously at his older sister who groaned at his suggestion.

"For the last time my love life isn't _that_ hopeless! Last time I checked you weren't picking up girls like they were collectibles so you can't say anything either." She retaliated with her own grin, a mild aggression in her words as she shut the door and headed out to meet with her Mother's old acquaintance.

"Man she's got a really weird concept of romance, maybe she goes round trying to catch them with a big net or something. That'd actually explain why she can't seem to land a date with anyone." Koichi gave out a small laugh at his own joke as he shifted on his bed, turning onto his side to retrieve his phone and the earphones he had them plugged into. "Guess I can pass the time till I'm sleepy."

Koichi placed his phone beside him as music began to start playing through his earphones. As he sat there, he gave another tired yawn and gradually with each song that passed, Koichi drifted to sleep. Within his mind, he saw nothing but darkness, he heard nothing but the cries of countless people asking to be saved. Then, amidst the black, he saw a shining light, a beacon of hope to the disembodied voices surrounding him. As it came closer, it looked to be a large man with golden brown skin and a prominent muscular figure. Long white baggy pants clung to the figure's waist and a colourful vest hung loosely around his shoulders while a turban rested upon the figure's head, a sheet of cloth obscuring his face as he drew a large scimitar from his side, pointing it toward Koichi as the masked man eyed him.

"I am thou." Was all the figure could utter as Koichi opened his eyes and shot up from his bed, looking around and getting his bearings, he found that he had fallen asleep while listening to his music and that there was now a cold sweat on his forehead and he looked around the now dark room.

'Huh, guess it was just a dream, shouldn't worry about it too much.' Koichi thought as he let out a relieved sigh and returned to his slumber.

 **(April 9** **th** **) Sunday Morning - Sunny**

Light from the late morning sun shone in through the window in Koichi's room as he roused from his sleep. Making his way to his closet, he changed into the casual clothes he had worn the day before before making his way downstairs and into the lounge. There he saw his Sister lying on the couch, her head resting on a pillow.

"Morning Sis." Koichi waved as he headed toward the kitchen.

"Mornin'..." His guardian groaned as she turned onto her back. "Keep your voice down too, I got drinking a little heavy last night. It's all Hiyora's fault."

"Don't you have to go into work today though? Besides, you only drink heavy when you've had a bad time, usually that means you struck out again." Koichi reminded his downed Sister as he walked over, eating a sandwich.

"Don't remind me." His Sister gave another groan as she sat up, only moments after, her phone began to ring. Giving a sigh and holding it up to her ear, she began to speak to the caller. "Matsuko here." She spoke lowly, not willing to give herself any greater of a headache than the one she already had.

"Ozawa-San! I'm glad I could reach you, I didn't think you'd be awake after last night, seeing as you could barely stand. You really need to moderate yourself you know, being a Teacher and all." A new and rather energetic voice exclaimed on the other end, loud enough for Koichi to unintentionally eavesdrop on the conversation.

"Not so loud Hiroya, I'm still recovering, besides it was your fault I was drinking so heavy, things were going well with that guy at the bar before you started telling that story from when I was three." Matsuko responded, slightly irritated that he had set off her headache. "What's with the formality anyway? I guess it's fine, but whaddaya want?"

"I was calling to make sure you remembered to come into work today, there's a small staff orientation meeting to introduce you to everyone, the other Teachers are excited to meet you. Then there's the small matter of your Brother. Bring him in too, I want to see him, nothing too formal, just a friendly chat since it's been along while." Hiroya explained as Matsuko grumbled quietly.

"Alright, we'll be over soon. I don't really get why a new PE Teacher's gonna be anything to talk about though, at least Koichi isn't getting any kicks outta this." She Added while eyeing Koichi, who retained a stoic expression as he finished his breakfast.

"Good, I'll gather the Teachers soon. I'll look forward to seeing you soon then, goodbye." Hiroya finished.

"Yeah." Matsuko added before hanging up. Turning to Koichi, she gave a small smirk. "I guess you heard that right? At least I'm not the only one getting roped into going to the School today. Koronai isn't too big of a town that we need to drive around, but the Academy's at the other end of town so it's a bit of a walk. We better get a move on then."

"Alright, guess I can look around the town a little while we're at it, nothing better to do I guess." Koichi replied as he and Matsuko headed to the door to begin their walk to the Academy.

 **Sunday Afternoon – Sunny**

Heading out into the streets of Kuronai, the two siblings began on their way to the School, beginning by traversing their way through the neighbourhood. While the houses around them were simplistic and built similar to their own home, the entire neighbourhood had a modern sense to it as Koichi observed his surroundings properly for the first time, now having the opportunity to see the town during daylight hours.

As he and Matsuko turned the corner and exited the street, they came to what appeared to be the main road through what appeared to be a busy town if the traffic in and out of the location was anything to go by. Opposite their street stood a busy park shaded by many trees and housing a small lake in it's centre. Beyond the park, the land sloped down, becoming a grassy valley that groups of people appeared to be lying down on, looking toward the clouds overhead.

At the foot of this valley, the grass appeared to make way for a vast beach of golden sand. Though it was still early spring, the weather was still nice enough for various people to gather and enjoy their time there. As a fresh breeze blew toward the two, Koichi took a breath in, taking in the scent of the salty air from the Ocean.

Beside him, Matsuko grinned, noticing her Brother taking in the details of the new location. "The town's just by the shore so there's usually a lot of people coming in from the city. I heard that grassy slope by the park's popular too, they say you can just relax and look at the clouds and you'll fall to sleep with how peaceful it is. Anyway, let's get going, the School isn't too far off." She casually mentioned as the two headed down the footpath.

After ten minutes of walking beside the main road through the town, Koichi noting the array of rather unique shops scattered through what appeared to be the centre of the town, the two finally made it to the Academy. Situated atop an incline, the School had been built near the edge of a cliff. Despite the fall risk, the cliff's edge appeared to be fenced off. The building itself was a pristine white and appeared to be a modern structure. While Matsuko walked in without taking a good look at the building, Koichi stood taking in both the structure and the surrounding foliage. Though one of his traits he kept to himself, he always liked to stand back for a moment and appreciate both the natural and artificial beauty to the world when he could. Koichi quickly decided that this was a moment to do so.

Paying no attention to anything other than the surroundings, Koichi stared off to the side, admiring a colourful flowerbed as he walked into the School grounds. Because of this he didn't notice someone walking towards him until it was too late. Whoever had been walking in his direction also appeared to have not been paying attention but appeared to be much more frail as when Koichi came to his senses, the individual in question had fallen onto the ground.

Offering his hand out to what appeared to be a female student around his age, Koichi saw that she had scattered several books on the ground upon their collision. "Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going." Koichi apologised as the young woman took his hand and the former helped her to her feet. Proceeding to gather the scattered books, Koichi quickly handed the stack back to the girl with a smile. "I guess I wasn't thinking straight with the beautiful sight." He said casually as the student lowered her head. "Whoever planted those flowers definitely knows what they're doing." He added, clearing up any confusion the girl might have.

"You'll have to thank our Principal for that, he moonlights as a botanist when he can get away from the office." She said with a smile. Taking a closer look at the girl, he saw how simplistic and classy her appearance seemed.

From her long, straight black hair and hazel eyes which blended well with her light skin tone to the uniform she wore. The black buckle shoes and tights she wore appeared simplistic while her pleated skirt was plaid, dark green and navy in colour. In contrast to the darker colour of her lower body, the shirt she wore was a plain white, a ribbon of the same plaid colours as her skirt wrapped around her collar. Over the shirt was a form fitting navy blazer, the logo of the School stitched into the breast pocket. A simple diamond shape, flat at the top and bottom, hollowed out with a smaller diamond shape in the centre and coloured in the same dark green that the rest of her outfit utilised. From what koichi could tell, this was the standard uniform of the female students of Kuronai Academy. Though unlike the usual students, the one in front of him wore a dark green armband around her arm, indicating that she was of some importance within the student hierarchy.

"I'm sorry too for not looking where I was going, I was reading heavily into my books again. Wait, I've not seen you around here before have I? Are you a new student?" She asked, Koichi giving a firm nod. "Oh, where are my manners? On behalf of the School let me be the first student to welcome you, um..." She trailed off as she began to extend her free hand to him.

"Koichi Ozawa." He replied, taking her hand and firmly shaking it.

"Nice to meet you Ozawa-San." She greeted him properly with a sincere smile before she noticed something behind him. Returning her attention to Koichi she gave a sigh. "I hope you'll enjoy it here. Sorry but I can't stay, otherwise I'd give you a tour. I have to go now, so I'll see you around School." She said with a disappointed expression as she bid him farewell before quickly leaving.

"Guess I should get going too, wonder how long Sis' gonna be in that meeting." Koichi voiced his thoughts as he wandered into the Academy for the first time, searching left and right for direction to the Principal's office as he did so.

 **Sunday Afternoon – Sunny**

Having been escorted in by the Secretary to the office, Koichi now awaited his Sister and Principal who had arranged a talk with him once the staff meeting was concluded. Since his arrival in the office, it had been a good half an hour. Even for Koichi, the amount time he had spent waiting and observing the room had begun to bore him.

Though his patience was wearing thin, it wasn't too much longer until the pair entered the room. Hiroya, the Principal of the School looked to be a tall man in his early forties with neatly trimmed brown hair and green eyes. The suit he wore was a modest brown colour and he had a light blue tie around his neck, appearing perfectly tied from Koichi's perspective. Looking at Matsuko, she appeared to have an embarrassed look on her face, most likely a result of the meeting.

"So I think that went well, the other Teachers seem to really like you." Hiroya began as he walked over and sat down in his desk, pleasantly smiling at Koichi as soon as he had settled in the chair.

"Yeah, though some of them seemed a little _too_ friendly to me, it made me uncomfortable." Matsuko commented, her face appearing unsettled as she spoke.

"Oh I wouldn't be worried about that, some of the other Teachers just get excited to meet new staff. It's nice to see you again Koicchan. Oh my apologies, Koichi-San, the last time I saw you was a long time ago and your mother enjoyed calling you that so I started too, a force of habit I suppose." Hiroya began, Koichi shifting uncomfortably at the mention of his old nickname. "I guess it's been that long that you might not remember me, I'm Hiroya Igarashi, Principle of Kuronai Academy. You see I did want a friendly chat today, but that's only partly the reason. You see, this School has a failing sports program and when I had heard that your sister was a pretty good Gym Teacher, I offered her a better paying job here so as long as she coached the failing sports teams too."

Koichi gave a shrug. "So? What's this have to do with me?"

"While the Tennis team is more Matsuko-San's forte, we could only afford to fund one other sports club and we had the students decide. I'd heard from your mother a few years ago that you'd managed to become a black belt in Karate, you were preparing for your third Dan before you had to move right?" Principal Igarashi asked, both Koichi and Matsuko beginning to suspect where this was going.

"Yeah, Sorta just learning until I can finally go for it, but what's this have to do with that, you don't want to throw me in with a bunch of beginners, right?" Koichi confirmed, seeming hostile to the idea that Hiroya was proposing.

"It is a Karate club and there is a dedicated black belt instructing them but he isn't as experienced as you. I want you to join though because the club needs bolstering, one instructor has a hard time teaching all of the students, I'm hoping you'll be able to improve the club as a whole. As for any competitions the club might have, that's down to your coach to deal with and put you through your paces." He explained quickly before seeing the blank expression on Koichi's face. "You don't have to decide right away though, take some time to think about it and then let me know what you're doing. That's all I wanted to talk about, so you're both free to go." Hiroya finished with a pleasant wave as the siblings left the office.

Out in the hall, Matsuko had already noticed the look on his face, his head low and appearing to be in deep thought. Placing her hand on his shoulder, Matsuko spoke up. "You don't wanna do ya? Stop thinking about what's already happened and put those skills to good use already will ya?"

"I know, but after then it threw me off, maybe I'm not cut out to teach, you know." Koichi replied with a morbid tone.

"You're forgetting that I'll be coaching you again like I used to. I might've stopped to focus on my career but now I can do both at once, that means it's my job to make sure it doesn't happen again. Anyway, stop worrying about things that might happen, it's not like you to do that. Let's get going, We've gotta shop for some food since we don't have any in."

After Matsuko ended her sentence, Koichi shook off his brooding look and gave a nod. "Sounds good, I'm in the mood for some Curry tonight, make sure it's packed with a good amount of spice."

 **Sunday Evening – Clear**

After a filling meal, Koichi had made his way to his bedroom where he slumped down onto his bed and gave a tired yawn. "Damn, today's got me all worn out. Guess I should get an early night with it being my first day tomorrow." He voiced his thoughts before shutting his eyes as he began to drift into a deep sleep.

As with the previous night, the dream he had entered was far from normal. He stoop atop a large cloud that had a green hue. Looking around the area he saw that it was a huge landscape formed from nothing but clouds, even the air was filled with a thin veil of green fog. While Koichi could see quite clearly through it, he noticed what appeared to be large structures made of the strange clouds, but he couldn't see what purpose they might serve from his current position.

Looking further around the mysterious terrain, Koichi took notice of a strange creature. It appeared to be a humanoid form made of shadow wearing a strange mask with hollow eyes and a hollow face which bore a ghastly expression. Koichi's worry of what the creature was escalated as it noticed and began to advance toward him. As it came closer, Koichi saw the horrifying visage clearly.

"What the hell is this place and more importantly what the hell is this thing!?" Koichi asked in panic as he put up his arms to shield himself from the creature should it attack.

As the shadowy creature shambled toward him, it opened it's mouth, displaying a set of sharp teeth and saying only two words. "Trespasser… Die!" It roared as Koichi shut his eyes for a moment, knowing that it would be over in but a few moments and he couldn't do a thing about it.

Instead of a premature death however, Koichi opened his eyes as the calming melody of a piano began to play followed by the serene singing he had heard before. Looking at his surrounding, he saw that he had somehow been called back to the Velvet Room and wore the more business-like ensemble he had in his initial visit.

As before, Igor looked at the young man with his wide smile, while Agatha wore a relieved expression as she looked at Koichi. "Welcome to the Velvet Room." Igor greeted once again. "My, it seems that you have a most interesting path ahead of you."

"I bet you're wondering where you were and why you ended up back here." Agatha took over from Igor. "As my Master told you on your first visit, there is a tear between the conscious world and the unconscious world. What you saw was the Dreamscape, where the mind resides during sleep, where dreams are created as well as nightmares. Recently, others have been pulled physically into this world to meet their gruelling end. However, you are different."

Igor cleared his throat and glanced at Agatha to cease speaking. "I apologise once again, Agatha still needs to learn better manners. As she said though, you are special, a Dream Walker if you will. Someone who can traverse the Dreamscape and walk freely through the clouds of other's minds, see their past, their dreams and even their ambitions, influence them in any way you will."

As Igor finished his sentence, he nodded to the Velvet Room Attendant, giving her a chance to speak. "Because of this, you're seen as the target for the shadows, such as the one that attacked you. You aren't safe in your sleep so my Master has decided to award you something, so you may reside here until you awaken."

Igor waved his hand across the table, a large silver key with a two faced mask engraved into its end materialised in front of Koichi before descending onto the table, prompting Agatha to speak up once more. "As we said before, only a Guest of the Velvet Room, one who has forged a contract, may visit this room. In entering the Dreamscape the way you did, you unknowingly signed an unspoken contract with us, which fortunately saved your life. This is the contractor's key and it means that you are our Guest in the Velvet room from this night on."

"Then for now our business is concluded, I am quite curious how you will handle what is to come and what you will do when you awaken to the dormant power within you." Igor added as the light in the room faded and left the latest Guest to his sleep.

Though to Koichi, that appeared to be only seconds, shooting up from his bed and gasping for air for a moment, looking around his room for a few seconds before steadying his breathing and regaining his composure.

'The Dreamscape huh? Don't wanna have to go back there anytime soon.' He thought, having calmed down as he looked at the clock beside his bed, it read 6:30AM. 'Better get ready then, shouldn't be too long till I have to head off to School. Sis said that I had to come to the Faculty room when I got there. Alright, it's a new day, let's see where it takes me.'

 **|SOA|**

 **So that's an end to the first part of this new fic I'm working on, this was all about just initial setup and introducing some of the characters, while some of them are going to be supporting cast, others have the role of main and confidant/social link status to put it simply. There's still several other characters of my own to introduce, some important and others not as important but in the next chapter, which is uploaded directly after this, there will be an OC contest for the other Arcana I haven't already made characters for since it's always good to get some input on your writing from others and seeing as this is the first time I'm writing a Persona story, it does help with the learning curve especially if those more familiar with the franchise are involved.**

 **Now a bit of background on how I'm going about this. I got into Persona 5 earlier in the year which I fell in love with and I've had this slowly in the works for several months now, I've done a decent amount of research and I'll likely continue to do so throughout my writing of this to try and keep everything to the general unspoken rules of the Persona games as best I can while trying to write out something similar to the Animations when concerning general content but if there is something out of place anyone picks up on then let me know about it. Since it's my first time writing a fic for this particular franchise help and any critique is much appreciated. That's it for me so thanks for reading and because I want something different and a little whimsical, the previews are going to be done through dialogue between different characters with a little fourth wall breaking and self awareness tossed in there for each chapter so I hope it at least gets a smile out of some readers, later!**

 **[Preview]**

Matsuko: "Hey Koichi, get in here, we're doing a preview or whatever."

Koichi: "Preview, what's going on, you're not accepting jobs off of strangers again are you?"

Matsuko: "But he was paying a lot of money for us to just read off of this script. So just follow it will ya?"

Koichi: "Fine. So looks like next time I'm gonna be going to school meeting a few important people and getting forced into something, then after that I'm gonna be visiting the Dreamscape again. Great, just what I wanted to happen..."

Matsuko: "Your boring tone's really bad for this ya know. Maybe I'll get somebody else on for the next preview. Anyway come see what happens next on Persona: Shadows of Ambition. Take it away Koichi."

Koichi: "In the next part, The Fool Awakens. Wait you're gonna be doing more of these!?"

Matsuko: "I can't help it, we seriously need the funding and the money's good."

Koichi "Why do I bother asking?"


	2. Bleeding Effect

Persona: Shadows of Ambition

Part 2: Bleeding Effect

 **A quick note before beginning, this is the edited version of chapter two, I changed the title to better reflect that given that while this starts out similarly to the original, criticism has been taken into account and it is going to be largely different from the original as the chapter progresses. Now that I've explained things, enjoy.**

 **(April 10** **th** **) Monday Morning – Sunny**

Having donned his new School uniform, similar to the one he saw the student from yesterday in, with the only differences being that he wore a dark green and navy plaid tie instead of a ribbon and he wore a set of Navy blue trousers. The absence of an armband like the one the girl who he had met wore confirmed his suspicions that she was more than just a regular student.

Heading downstairs, there was no sign of Mastuko, having likely gone to work before Koichi had woken up in preparation for her first day in her new position. Taking his bag from the kitchen table and walking out into the bright Spring morning, the student shielded his eyes for a moment before moving out of the small neighbourhood and onto the main road to begin on his way to the School.

Like yesterday, after ten minutes of uneventful walking, he arrived at Kuronai Academy. From his first steps into the School, the students present near the main entrance glanced at him curiously as he entered through the archway. Moving past the small groups that cluttered the front entrance, Koichi's gaze shifted toward a large tree a few male students stood around. Halting momentarily, he decided to peak in on the situation. From his limited viewpoint, he could see a student around his age pinned by the hand of another student to the tree while several other students stood around. From the looks of their dishevelled outfits, they fit the delinquent archetype to a tee. Though Koichi couldn't get a look at the pair currently having an altercation and turned his head away.

"Leave it be." he mumbled, giving a hefty sigh as he began walking once again into the main building.

Once inside, he used the signs to direct him, not taking long until Koichi found himself at the Faculty room on the ground floor of the building. Giving the door a light tap, it only took a few seconds for a Teacher to open the door and see him standing there.

The Teacher standing in the doorway was quite tall and clad in the standard shirt, pants and tie combination that most male Teachers tended to wear. His brown hair however was a mess and his shirt was only half tucked in giving him a slovenly appearance. Even so, the Teacher gave a wide smile to the young man before opening his mouth. "You must be Koichi-San right? Ozawa-Sensei said you looked alike, she wasn't wrong. Classes should be starting soon, so I've gotta head on over there. Oh, I forgot she hadn't told you yet, I'm Shingo Yoshimoto. I'll be your homeroom Teacher, you're in Class 2-B, it's just up on the second floor. Oh crap, the bell's about to ring any second, we've gotta go!" Shingo panicked as he looked as his wristwatch before hurriedly making his way toward the stairs, followed closely by his new pupil.

Opening the door to his class, the homeroom Teacher was met with the cold gaze of one of his students as she stood at the front of the classroom with her arms folded. Upon further examination, Koichi recognised that it was the same girl he had met the day before.

"Yoshimoto-Sensei, you're late… Again." She addressed with frustration clearly in her voice. The Teacher began to fumble with his hands, looking for an excuse.

"There was an um..." He started before looking behind him at Koichi, his eyes lighting up once he saw his excuse. "That's right! There was a new student I had to wait for so I was in the Faculty room a little later than usual. Please take your seat Tsuda-San." Shingo said with a sigh of relief that he was safe for now as the student nodded and returned to her seat, the second up from the rear door of the room.

Shingo took up his position in front of the black board before gesturing to Koichi to walk into the class. From there, Shingo took a stick of chalk and offered it to Koichi. "Go ahead and write your name and introduce yourself to everyone." The Teacher added before heading over to his desk, shifting around a few papers.

Turning around and quickly writing out his name, Koichi turned around. "My name's Koichi Ozawa, I moved here a few days ago with my Sister because of her new job at the Academy. Thank you all for having me in your class." He introduced himself with a short solemn bow.

Once he had finished speaking, Shingo walked over scratching his head. "Alright Koichi-San, take a seat, um..." He trailed off as he tried to look for an open seat for Koichi to sit in.

Seeing that the Teacher was lost with where to sit Koichi, the girl from earlier quickly rose her hand and spoke up. "Yoshimoto-Sensei! There's a seat behind me that Ozawa-San can sit in." She informed the Teacher who had been looking aimlessly.

"Ah, thanks for your insight Tsuda-San, I don't know where I'd be if you weren't the class representative." He said with another relieved sigh, pointing to the vacant seat for Koichi to take his place. As the teen sat down and looked at his surroundings and the other inhabitants of the classroom, the Teacher spoke up once again. "Alright class, Principal Igarashi told me he wanted to talk with me as soon as I'd introduced the new student, so I've gotta leave, bye!" He waved, carelessly not informing the class of what they would be doing in his absence.

"Wait! Sensei, you didn't even tell us what to do! Are we studying on ourselves?" The girl now known to Koichi as the class rep called out to the teacher. Though it was all in vain, Shingo leaving too quickly for her words to reach the absent minded teacher.

As the class rep gave a defeated sigh, almost all eyes in the room shifted on Koichi as they whispered to each other, all curious about the new student in their class. Shifting uncomfortably, Koichi reclined back in his seat, hoping to avoid any excessive attention.

Tilting his head toward the ceiling to avert his attentions from the class, he didn't notice the class rep turn around, only noticing that she had when she spoke up. "Hi Koichi-San, I'm glad you ended up in our class. After all I didn't get to properly thank you for helping me out when we bumped into each other yesterday since I was in a rush. So as class rep, let me be the first to welcome you to Class 2-B!"

Koichi looked at her and gave a slight nod in gratitude. "Tsuda-San was it? You're welcome but it was my fault for not watching where I was going. But thanks for the welcome, just wish people would stop staring." He added with a nervous chuckle as his eyes scanned the staring faces across the room.

The class rep gave a small smile and nodded. "If that's the case, I'll call you Koichi-Kun, just to make you feel a little more welcome. Since I've not properly introduced myself yet, my name's Sayomi Tsuda. Call me Sayomi-Chan if anything, I don't want anyone to feel unfamiliar with me given I'm representing the class and all, including you now." Sayomi introduced herself, one of what appeared to be her friends from what Koichi could gather tapped her on the shoulder.

The bespectacled classmate adjusted her oval frames slightly as Sayomi turned to face her. "You already know him Sayomi? You said you bumped into him, so does that mean... You had a chance encounter?" The girl asked with a chuckle, Sayomi giving a sigh and shaking her head as a cold shiver went through Koichi.

"Seriously Momo you're starting to creep me out with that stuff, we've gotta get you out more. Nothing happened, I just bumped into him on my way back from the School's library yesterday and he helped me pick my books up, that's all." Sayomi elaborated to her friend.

'I'm a little nervous about what that girl meant but looks like this period is almost over thankfully. Hopefully I don't get too many more people wanting to converse with me. Better just deal with it and wait it out for now. Sis said she wanted to see me down at the Gym at Lunch though, at least I'll be away from everyone wanting to get to know me.' Koichi thought as he leant back into his chair, and giving a sigh, as best as he could guess, it was going to be a long day...

* * *

 **Monday Lunchtime – Cloudy**

As soon as the bell signalling it was Lunch rang, Koichi made his way out of the classroom and followed the signs yet again as he made his way to the School's indoor Gym. Opening the door and entering, Koichi spotted that a tall male student in a standard Kuronai Academy uniform was stood near to a group of students in short white Gym clothes and holding Tennis rackets. Several tennis courts also appeared to be set up, which the group had their backs to.

Stood opposite them, Matsuko wore a plain white t-shirt with a Tennis skirt and carried a racket of her own whilst a metal whistle hung from her neck, she appeared sweaty, seeming to have just finished a lesson before the lunch bell. Koichi walked up beside his sister, who took quick notice of his presence before she spoke up.

"Good, you're here. Alright! As you kids should know, I'm the new PE Teacher, Matsuko Ozawa. When I'm not giving lessons, I'm going to be coaching the Tennis team. Since it's my speciality, I'm going to turn you from a failing team into victors and I won't be easy on you." She said in almost a threatening manner that quickly unnerved the Tennis team, going as far as to frighten some of the budding athletes. "As for why you're here." She started, casually pointing at the tall student in uniform." "I've had to take up the position of your Club's Coach for any future competitions so I'll be going over rules and organisation, stuff like that." She explained to him before placing her hand on Koichi's shoulder and shaking him slightly. "And this is my brother Koichi. Since I have no clue how to actually train a Karate club and he's not so bad at it, he's gonna help you train up the others, that okay with you?" She asked as the older looking student sized Koichi up. "Don't worry about 'im being a little young either, he can handle himself. You might wanna watch yourself if you go toe to toe with 'im though Miyara." She warned the older student referred to as Miyara, who Koichi took proper note of upon learning of their mutual hobby.

His hair was cut short, brown and spiky and his eyes were a hazel colour. He definitely dwarfed most around him too, standing at 6'1" and his skin had a nice even tone to it. The only slightly intimidating feature of him aside from his physical size were his strong facial features which worked well with his calm and serious demeanour.

"Wait, Sis, you're volunteering me for this? I told you I didn't want to." He whispered to Matsuko as he looked at the older male student. Koichi looked back toward the young man by the name of Miyara, seeing the serious expression he bore before looking back to his sister. "I don't want to till I'm ready." He sighed.

"Knowing you that means you'll keep putting it off till you've graduated. Tough you're doing it, you need a push sometimes Koi." She muttered under her breath while gritting her teeth before placing a hand on Koichi's head and squeezing it. "He's a little shy but he's a second Dan black belt, that should be exactly what you guys need right now to get you in shape, right? Go on Koicchan, introduce yourself." She almost aggressively ordered her younger brother who shot her an annoyed look for using his nickname.

"Hey there Miyara-Senpai, I'm looking forward to getting back into the habit of training and instructing if you'll have me." Koichi said with a short resepctful bow toward the senior student.

"No." Miyara began, his tone sounding quite calm. "I should be the one bowing to you Koichi-San. You are after all one Dan higher than me, so I should offer my respects to you." He replied, surprising both Koichi and the Tennis team with his words and further with his actions as he gave a bow lower than Koichi's to mark his respect for his fellow practicioner. "It will be an honour to have you join us, given your talents and dedication."

"Alright, Alright. You're gonna get 'im all embarrassed if ya keep on. Well you met the Club's Captain I'll leave you to do whatever for Lunch now. Tennis team with me, we're gonna run drills through lunch. Get moving maggots!" Matsuko boomed her orders as she got the group on their feet running laps around the indoor Gym.

As she did so, Koichi returned his attention to the other student. "Miyara-Senpai." He started.

"Please, call me Hideo."

"Okay, Hideo-Senpai, it's been nice meeting you, even if Sis sprung this all on me without giving me a choice. I'm gonna go now though, haven't even had time to get any Lunch yet, I'll see you when the Club's on." He added with a wave, Hideo returning one with a welcoming smile.

"I'll make sure everyone gives you a warm welcome when you do."

* * *

After making his way out of the Gym, Koichi started up the nearest stairwell until he reached the top in which a door to the roof of the building was present. Making his way out, the fresh coastal air quickly hit him. As he looked around, the roof appeared to be fenced off with a few tables and chairs scattered around meaning students would likely frequent the roof. Walking over to the fencing, Koichi leant his shoulder into it and gazed out toward the Ocean, taking in the calmness and peaceful atmosphere.

'People sure are friendly here. I'm alright with that but I'd prefer it if I could be left to do my own thing. Everything's new and I'm still getting my bearings. Maybe I'll just stick it out here till the bell rings seeing as nobody's around here.' He thought while he kept his eyes focused on the vast body of water ahead, oblivious to the sound of the door to the roof opening.

However, it seemed that whoever was now also on the roof wasn't aware of his presence as a voice that Koichi found familiar began to speak. Turning, he saw Sayomi speaking on her phone.

"Okay, so both of you then?" She asked the recipient of her call, waiting a few moments before lightly sighing. "It's alright, I understand. I'll see you both when you can come home and please don't overwork yourselves either." She continued, waiting a few moments before letting out a giggle at whatever the other person had just said. "Okay, I'll not overwork myself either. I love you both, bye." She finished as the call ended and she lowered her phone to her side before turning around and seeing Koichi, who had been listening from the beginning. "Oh, Koichi-Kun, I didn't think anyone else was out here, sorry if I interrupted you."

Koichi shook his head. "No it's fine. Guessing that was your parents, right?" He assumed, Sayomi nodding in response.

"Yeah, they're pretty busy with their work so I was just checking in. I get a little worried that they're gonna put work first and skip meals if I don't call them." She explained as the phone at her side began to vibrate.

"Good for you, must be nice to get to worry about them like that." Koichi replied rather quietly.

"Huh?" Sayomi asked as she looked to her phone as the vibration from the device began to increase.

"Eh, I didn't say anything important." He told her, misunderstanding the tone of her surprise.

"No, not that. My phone, there's something up with it." She explained as he strolled over to see what exactly she was talking about.

As he came over, Sayomi held the screen up, both of their faces went wide as they saw that the screen fluctuated with green static. "What the-" Koichi started.

"Do you think some malware got on my phone somehow? I hope not." Sayomi asked, seeking to rationalise the event occurring before the two.

Before Koichi could fathom the situation, what appeared to be a form of lightning with a greenish hue surged from the mobile device, striking the ground and leaving singe marks resemblant of a crack in the ground.

"Let's go with no." Koichi quickly replied just before the events escalated further.

Beneath their feet, the singe marks appeared to light up in a similar greenish tone to the lightning and static just as it appeared to tear open, leaving a void of green with clouds below them almost too distant to see. The two teenagers looked at each other with panicked eyes for a moment as they felt the ground below them become non-existant and their impending descent through the air began as the sky shifted to green, shifting realities, the two picked up momentum as they fell, soon coming into view of the large clouds below.

Neither knew how far the descent was, nor did they know what would lie in wait at the bottom. All they could think about at the moment was the sheer terror of falling so rapidly.

Turning his head to the right, Koichi checked on Sayomi to see she was hyper ventilating, clearly more afraid of the falling than anything else.

"God, please... I don't want to die." She murmured, tearing up and hoping her prayer might be heard, despite their chances of survival being slim.

* * *

 **The Dreamscape – Cloud Boulevard**

As they fell and drew nearer and nearer to the large cloud platform, they felt the end coming. Shutting her eyes, Sayomi braced herself for impact, not that it would do anything. As they descended rapidly and came close to colliding with the strange cloud surface, to their surprise they abruptly came to a stop, they felt the strange sensation of being suspended in the air and looked to find themselves only a few feet from the ground.

Sighing in relief that the terror inducing fall was over, the two were then just as abruptly dropped to the ground with heavy thuds, leaving the two groaning for a moment as they hit the ground. Quickly back on his feet, Koichi made his way over to his classmate, offering out a hand, which she took.

"You alright Tsuda-San?" He asked as he helped her to her feet.

"I told you not to be so formal, remember. But thanks, I'm alright. I'm just not very good with heights or falling." She explained as she gave a relieved sigh now she was back on solid ground.

"Looks like we're okay here now. Wherever here is..." He added, scratching the back of his head.

"What just happened exactly?" Sayomi wondered as she scoped the area, a vast green void and the cloud platform they stood upon. Being the only thing immediately visible.

Taking note of the landscape himself, Koichi straightened up, realising where exactly they were. "This place, I've been here before. In my dreams."

"Huh, you have?" She asked, pausing. "I get the feeling that it's familiar too... but I can't explain why. It's just a sense of deja vu."

"I've had a few dreams involving it lately, it's a place called the Dreamscape and if my dreams about it are anything to go by, we're not safe here. We need to find a way out as soon as we can." He explained as best he could without involving the equally crazy dreams about the Velvet Room, which would complicate the situation further if he did mention it.

"We're in danger if we stay here? What kind of place is this?" She asked, somewhat panicked by the ominous vibes of the realm they now resided in and the knowledge that it was indeed a hostile environment.

"I don't know myself but we need to move... before..." He said, tone turning grim as Sayomi looked at him, curious and worried by what he was alluding to as his eyes scanned the area for potential threats. "Alright, looks like there's nothing around right now, we should get going, try to find that exit."

Sayomi nodded, taking note of how calm and decisive he was in such a situation where danger loomed over both of them and was reassured by it, following after Koichi as he led the way through the mysterious expanse of the Dreamscape.

Heading up the cloud pathway, the two came to a large somewhat circular cloud platform. Stemming off of the other end of this particular area was yet another cloud pathway that extended off into the distance. As the two walked closer however, they spotted a short figure obstructing the path ahead.

Coming into view, the two saw the figure for what it was, between two and three feet high, a long slender tail and smooth brown fur. From what they could tell, it appeared to be a monkey. However, a strap around its chest held a metal shoulder guard in place while it gripped a scaled down longsword, it stood straight with the proper posture of a human and it held a calm but intimidating glare as it stared at the two students approaching.

"Uhh Koichi-Kun, is this what you meant by not safe?" Sayomi asked, only to be met by a shrug from him as he too examined the creature before them.

"Hmm, it's not what attacked me in my sleep, but it is in our way. We should be alright as long as it doesn't attack when we get near. Come on."

"A-Alright." She hesitantly said as the two advanced toward the monkey, through as they did so, the creature removed the longsword from the ground and pointed it at them.

"None shall pass." It spoke, it's voice childlike but its tone as serious as its face.

"Huh, it's talking!?" Sayomi exclaimed, visibly shocked, Koichi clenched his jaw and swallowed hard, following up by clenching his fists.

"Why, what's so important past here that a monkey's keeping us from it? It wouldn't be an exit would it?" He asked, trying to keep his composure even with a deadly blade pointed at him.

"I'm no monkey. I'm the guardian of this place, none shall pass me and disturb the dreamers in their clouds. So unless you leave. I'll have to force. You." The self proclaimed guardian of the Dreamscape explained his role to the two.

"Yeah, we we're trying to find the way out so if you'd just point us to the nearest exit."

"Sure." The creature's eyes narrowed. "I'd be happy to _show_ you." It finished, its feet shifting slightly.

Taking note of the slight movements the Dreamscape's guardian had taken, Koichi's eyes widened as he saw what the creature had in mind when he said that. In the blink of an eye, the creature darted at Koichi, lunging at him with it's longsword. Sayomi looked on in horror, expecting to see Koichi run through by the weapon any second. However, much to her surprise, the weapon glided by as Koichi reflexively shifted to the side with impressive speed. From his new position, he quickly countered with a snapping punch technique, striking the guardian in the head and knocking it off balance as Koichi then skipped back to put some distance between the two. Letting out a large breath of air, he took up a fighting stance as his foe regained its bearings.

"Seems I misjudged you intruder. Guess I'll have to take you seriously after all." It told him as it produced a strange glass coin with a green tint and what looked to be the number twelve printed on its two surfaces, from behind it's back. Flipping it calmly, it spun through the air and clattered to the ground. With this, the guardian gripped its longsword with both hands, pointing it down to the ground as it proceeded to drive it into the cloud platform and the glass coin upon it, shattering the object into fragments. "Come forth. Persona!"

As it spoke those words, a strange green aura burst from the shattered glass coin and wrapped itself around Koichi's foe before what appeared to be a figure clad in knightly armour burst forth from the guardian's aura. Clad in shining plate armour and bearing a menacing broadsword in his hands, the skull of what appeared to be a dragon was strapped to the right pauldron of the armour while a cloak made of thick scaly green hide hung from his shoulders. His face was obscured by a plate helmet bearing a Y shaped visor and upon the left breastplate rest a red cross on a white background.

"Come Georgios, to battle!" The creature raised its voice, commanding the being it referred to as a Persona, which began floating toward where the guarded student stood.

Coming into range, Georgios brought its broadsword backwards before bringing it around in an arcing swing. Koichi narrowly leapt under the slicing attack, rolling onto one knee near Sayomi who stood petrified at the sight of the giant warrior. Manoeuvring again, Georgios finally took note of the girl stood frozen in place with fear and took position to strike both teenagers at once.

Observing the deadly foe's movements, Koichi quickly caught onto what the strange being was planning and made a dash for Sayomi, clasping hold of her wrist and pulling her away just as the Persona swung with a diagonal downward slash, the two narrowly evading yet another attack.

"Koichi, what is that thing!?" She asked, her breathing erratic and clearly panicked now she had narrowly avoided what could have very well been a deathblow.

"I don't know, but we need to get out of here fast!" He replied with a sense of urgency as they skidded to a halt as they came to an edge of the cloud platform.

Turning around the two were surprised to find that Georgios had quickly caught up with them, pinning them to the edge of the platform with nowhere else to go. They watched as the guardian neared and brought his blade high, the Persona imitating its movements. Bringing his blade down swiftly, Georgios followed suit bearing his blade down toward the two.

As Koichi stood his ground, accepting the blow, Sayomi took a hesitant step back. Given how there was no further ground to retreat backwards onto, her leg gave way to the lack of ground beneath her foot and threw her off balance, sending her falling backwards off of the platform. Given how Koichi was also holding onto her arm and the fact he wasn't prepared to hold the weight of a person, he was jerked back by the sudden surprise weight pulling him down and soon lost his balance too as he was pulled off of the platform. In a last ditched attempt to keep his balance as he began falling, he extended his arm out and held his palm forward to try catch the platform if that didn't work.

Yet while he did so, Georgios brought his blade to bear, slicing through the surface of Koichi's palm and drawing blood as Koichi left the range of the Persona's weapon. As the two fell through the void, much slower than before, they could only feel relieved they had gotten out of the situation alive. Then abruptly, they felt the impact of falling, hitting the floor of the School roof with a thud.

* * *

 **Monday Afternoon – Cloudy**

Sayomi and Koichi looked around to see their environment had changed and they now rested on the ground of the School roof. Picking themselves up the two gave relieved sighs that the whole ordeal was over.

"Damn, I didn't think things would get so dangerous in there, I'm sorry you got wrapped up in this." Koichi apologised to her as he looked at his hand, though the blade had left a sizeable cut along it, it had only gone deep enough to draw blood and was nothing to worry about.

"Is your hand Bleeding?" She asked concerned, eyeing his bloodied hand and then wincing as she turned away.

"Yeah, it just got nicked by that sword as we fell, it's nothing though. I take it you don't like seeing blood?" He asked, noting how she reacted.

"I get queasy when I see anything gory." She confirmed while giving a nod, trying to keep herself from looking down at the cut as she turned to face him again. "But it's alright, I don't blame you for us ending up in that Dreamscape place together. I still can't wrap my head around what happened though..."

"Me either, I'm just glad only I got injured by that thing." He agreed as Sayomi put her hand to her chin.

"But when we were up here and all that happened... What if it happens to any of the other students? We can't let that happen to anyone else!" She told him assertively and clenching her fist tightly, making him jump at her sudden change in tone.

"Yeah... If somebody else ended up there... If they got... Because I didn't bother to find out why what happened to us happened and make sure to put a stop to that. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if somebody died because I was careless... So I'll deal with this myself, don't worry." He decided, looking her dead in the eyes.

There was definitely determination in his eyes, but Sayomi couldn't help but sigh at his stubbornness. "You sound set on doing this yourself. I can't let you do this recklessly on your own you know."

Koichi firmly shook his head at the thought of his classmate helping. "I can't let you come along though. You can't protect yourself. In a fight, anything can happen and you'd be a liability. Like you were just now. I'm sorry if that sounds harsh but I have to be when it comes to things like this."

She nodded and gave what seemed to be a defeated sigh before looking at him and smiling. "I guess you're right, but I was there for that big hole in the floor opening up, who's to say it'll open up again without me? You can relax though, I don't think I want to go back there any time soon, I just want to get to the bottom of why it opened in the first place. That agreeable with you?"

Koichi just shrugged at the idea. "Fine, but only to find out how we opened that hole."

"Great! So we'll do it tomorrow after School's over." She stated in a cheery manner. Before looking to the sky and seeing just how much of the day had gone already. It was indeed late afternoon, by her best guess. Before she could say anything about how much of the School day had been expended by their unexpected trip to the Dreamscape, the bell marking the end of the day rang throughout the School. "Oh crap!" She blurted out.

"Huh? Were we there long, I didn't notice." Koichi asked, clueless as his fellow student panicked.

"Oh no, we missed the rest of the School day... my perfect attendance record... tarnished." She moped as her heart sank at the thought.

"Making sure you're in all your classes on time, that's important to you?"

"Yeah, I've never been absent from a class, but now..." She continued pitifully.

While she continued to wallow in self pity, she heard the roof door creak open, snapping out of her sad state as she turned around to see Koichi heading out the door. "One absence won't hurt you." His voice echoed through the stairway as he descended. 'But if Matsuko finds out, it'll definitely hurt me...' He grimaced at the thought.

 **|SOA|**

 **Persona Compendium: Arcana 12, The Hanged Man – Georgios – Though the name of this Persona is derived from Greek, it is in essence Saint George, most prominently known as the Patron Saint of England. Though he is believed to be a historical figure given his Sainthood, much of his exploits are told in Legends. Legends such as Saint George and the Dragon, which is of the most notoriety. Like his wielder, Saint George dedicated himself to protecting those who could not protect themselves from evil. Yet the Dreamscape's Guardian's concept of evil is far more subjective than what is present within the Legends.**

 **That's chapter 2 rewritten and I hope it's improved from the first version. I've read through the advice and critique and used it in several areas to hopefully make this chapter less overwhelming with characters and exposition than it was before. For first time readers of this though, at the end of each chapter to feature a new Persona, I'm doing a little extra segment, which is the Persona Compendium. I liked the neat little touch of the Compendium adding extra lore/flavour text to read up on if you wanted to know more about a particular Persona's influences or origins, so I thought it be only right I do that for the new Personas also appearing here.**

(The following hasn't been altered and is just for new readers interested in the OC contest – but it is still on so anyone interested in submitting another, go ahead, there's plenty of space.)

 **Alright then, as mentioned in the previous chapter, I'll be starting an OC contest for the rest of the Arcana I haven't made specific plans for. Some will have their importance in the story while others will end up as side characters with their own self contained stories. I'll decide which ones are which as I decide on each Arcana but I do love the smaller more character based stories nestled within the series so they won't be shown any less love than the actual plot, since I do intend to make the chapters flow without any time skipping and that requires a lot of content to fill in the big gaps between the plot that is notorious in the Persona franchise. That said, I'll leave the OC form below and the preview afterwards and I hope you've enjoyed the chapter, any and all comments on it are much appreciated, goodbye for now!**

Name: **(Pretty Straightforward, since the setting is in Japan I'd expect most to be Japanese names, if you're submitting a Japanese character that is, but there's nothing wrong with going for something else/some other nationality if you want.)**

Age: **(If you're submitting with the intent of the character having a persona, I'd advise putting them in the High Schooler age range, if not go for whatever age you want, within reason anyway)**

Gender: **(Pretty straightforward, just keep it to male and female please. I want to focus on personalities over any trivial matters such as these.)**

Physical Appearance: **(Something else that's straightforward, I'd like enough detail to paint a clear picture of the character's physical features but that's up to you, be as detailed or as vague as you want, I know which makes my job easier and which one I'm more inclined to choose out of the two.)**

Clothing: **(Similar to the last one in that I want to know enough to visualise what they wear, a School uniform would be a guarantee for any High Schoolers but you can describe how they've styled theirs if you want and or offer up casual clothes or a style of casuals they wear.)**

Personality: **(Now for this, though you don't have any obligation to make a character with a lot of depth to their personality, unless the lack of one is part of their character, which should probably be stated, it puts a lot of pressure on me to say create an interesting character that isn't one or two dimensional so I'd prefer good detailed sentences about their personality over a short list of general traits.)**

History/Backstory: **(This is something you can also go into good depth with too, especially if any of it has affected them in any way or dictates how their character might progress and what sub-plots may stem from past events. With this, you can go for quite a lot of things but please don't go too overboard, that's my job after all.)**

Family: **(With this you can give sparse details if you want or you can give the OC's family, if they have any, some traits or notes for me to work with if they end up being introduced in the story. As another note I'm making a rule to keep this story separate from the Canon and so I'll ask nicely that the odd person that may want to link their OC as a distant relative of any Canon Persona character not do so, although I won't disregard any OC's like that if it's something as simple as a footnote that they are, but it will require some changes in that case.)**

Weapons: **(If applicable. This can be any kind of weapon though if the games are anything to go by, it's probably best to style it after the Persona the character has. For this piece all you need to put down is a melee weapon and a ranged weapon with some explanation as to what it is in the rare case that it is obscure, though I will be researching them regardless.)**

Arcana: **(Straightforward again, what Arcana are they, or what is your preferred Arcana that they have since I may give them others in some cases. This should fit with their personality type and dictate the kind of Persona and the type of ambition(s) they have, so have a good think about it. I have the intent of using all Arcana but as it stands, these are the only ones I haven't a specific use for yet and thus are available for your OC's.)** (Available Arcana: The High Priestess, The Empress, The Emperor, The Hierophant, The Chariot, The Hermit, Justice, Death, The Devil, The Tower, The Star, The Moon, Judgement.)

Persona: **(For this one, as with weapon, only put something if applicable. For the theme of these Persona's I'm wanting ones based around wandering adventurers, heroes, saints, samaritans and such. These can be from any media really as long as it relates to the OC. To give further examples, Sinbad, Heracles and St. George are three Persona already chosen for the story to give you an idea of the type of characters you might want to look for. If you want, give a few suggestions for a Persona just to avoid any clashes and if you want to go the extra mile, write your own Compendium entry for the Persona, but that last part's all on you.)**

Ambition(s): **(Ambition is a key theme in my story, hence the title. All the characters featured are going to have ambitions, some of them might be small and short term goals while some might be big life goals as you'll see. For this I want at least one life ambition which forms the core of all their future aspirations, this part is mandatory though you can also add a bunch of smaller short term goals for the character if you so choose.)**

Character Arc: **(With every Arcana in Persona, there's also the self contained character arcs which sometimes bleed into the story. These are going to be the side plots that run throughout the duration of the story to really explore the OC's and give them life and more often than not, conflict. So here I want at the very least a good layout of the plot and direction of the character, so I know where to take their personal stories. As for developing it, add as much detail as you want to the plot of their arc, it helps give me a clearer picture and this way you don't end up unsatisfied with the way I take your character, it's also a good challenge for me if I'm writing in a new way as a result, so if you want to, go for it.)**

Hobbies/Talents/Skills: **(This is the only real thing I can accept to be a list at the bare minimum, but if you add specific details or the extents to which their talents etc. go or just flesh them out a little It'll make things all the more easier to write about.)**

Extra Info: **(This is a free slot to put whatever you want… within reason. Anything that the form doesn't cover that you may want to add or details which you think may need their own section and what not.)**

Alright, so that's it for the form and I hope those guidelines weren't too dull and tedious to read through. But they're just some preferences on things, along with a few rules and just explaining the section in the case of confusion. Now before I leave it off to the preview, I'll just add a couple more rules/preferences for posting OC's. First of all, for now I'm restricting it to two OC's maximum per user. This is just so there's an even chance and the fact I don't know how well or how not well this fic is going to do yet but we'll see how that goes. Second of all, regarding where you post, I would prefer PM's just so that if an OC is chosen, their details aren't all over the place. This doesn't mean that I'm less inclined to choose those sent through reviews and I'm not going to restrict it to PM only submission either, just so any Guest users have a fair shot too because I'm nice like that. What I care most about is quality over meeting my criteria to the letter.

That's all though, so sorry for droning on and for the preview, I'm not really that fond of the format I've done it in prior to this revision, so I'll just be doing it in a preview format, but if the previous format is preferred, or you have a suggestion on another type of preview, I'm all ears. Thanks for reading and here you go.

 **[Preview]**

As the Fool begins to seek the answer to the questions he has, he will encounter new people and will begin to form the bonds that will lead to his awakening. As he discovers the secret of his connection to the Dreamscape, he'll be faced with a challenge he can't face alone. Will he open his eyes to the truth and allow himself to open up to others or will his stubbornness be his downfall?

Next Time: Fool's Awakening


	3. Fool's Awakening

Persona: Shadows of Ambition

Part 3: Fool's Awakening

 **Note: The previous chapter was rewritten and is quite different from how it was before. Please read that if you haven't yet beore reading this, otherwise you'll be lost.**

 **The Velvet Room**

Met with the harmonious and soothing background melody he had begun to associate with the Velvet Room, Koichi opened his eyes and looked around to find himself within the room once more, while he hadn't expected to arrive here again, it was far safer than drifting accidentally into the Dreamscape a second time. Giving a relieved sigh that he could at least relax while his body slept, the youth looked around, finding that Igor was nowhere in sight, though his trusty assistant sat watching and giving a slight smile to the young man opposite her.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room. Heehee, that's the first time I've been able to say that." She let out a small giggle. "Master Igor isn't here at the moment. He's away on... business right now. But that's alright, I'll be here to give you any help you'll need. I can't really do much for you right now but I'll see what I can do." She explained, returning to a professional manner.

Koichi gave a slight nod. She seemed to act differently to how she had when Igor was around. Perhaps because she seemed like a new and eager worker, one that didn't seem to know the exact mannerisms expected of them. Now though she seemed to have the air of a professional, even if it appeared to lapse once or twice as she spoke.

"Just some answers for now thanks." He said with a smile, extending the same pleasant courtesy she had to him.

Agatha gave a shrug as she straightened herself up. "Hmph, fine. So what's on your mind?" She asked with a nonchalant attitude, Koichi took it back, she wasn't very professional after all.

"Something happened yesterday and I need some answers." He started as he recounted the events that he and Sayomi were thrust into within the Dreamscape that day. "So what I want to know most is how we got there and what those two things we fought were. I heard that monkey call the big Knight thing a Persona, but that's all."

Agatha picked up a metallic navy coloured pen from the desk and tapped it against her lips as she thought about the details he had given and decided on what she would reveal. Her tapping then stopped. "Well you're not wrong, that Knight you fought is a Persona. I'll tell you that but it's not like I could explain it, even if I wanted to. It's better you experience it for yourself to get the answer there. I've got no clue what that Monkey is though, maybe my master knows, but for me..." She raised her hands to give a big and slightly over dramatic shrug. "I've got no idea."

Koichi gave a sigh, dealing with her for as long as this ordeal with the Dreamscape was going to go on for certainly seemed like it was going to be difficult, especially with her attitude to work when Igor wasn't around. He only hoped that she'd be more compliant with his questions in future. Koichi sighed. "Well that wasn't much help, anything about whatever pulled us into the Dreamscape that you're willing to share then?"

"Maybe." She teased with a coy smile, though at this point it seemed he wasn't in the mood for her games judging by his tightened features. "Okay then, I suppose I can tell you a little." Agatha decided. "My Master told you how the barriers between the Dreamscape and here aren't in the best shape right now. It's got to do with that and you."

"Huh, me? What do I have to do with everything that's been happening?"

Agatha shrugged. "Well not directly but I suppose you'd be like the key to whole thing, or more accurately a trigger. But it isn't like that rule applies all the time either. That's all I'm going to tell you though."

Koichi gave a last defeated sigh. As far from help as she could be, she at the very least confirmed a couple of things for him and gave him some cryptic clues as to what the hell had happened in the past day. "I guess you helped a little, not that I've got much to go on. I think I'll go then, thanks for what you said... I guess."

"Well Koichi, a girl's gotta keep some things to herself." She laughed, pulling the oval frames down from her nose and giving him a wink. "Besides, I have a feeling you'll find your answers sooner than you think. Be sure to visit when the Master isn't around again, okay? It gets boring when things are all work and no play after all."

As he returned to the throws of sleep, a feeling of concern washed over him, his main source of support appeared to be a slacker, leaving him uncertain about just how much help she could be. "Good luck figuring out the Bleeding Effect, Koichi." He unexpectedly heard Agatha's voice say as his vision faded to black.

"Huh? Bleeding Effect... Could that be..."

* * *

 **(April 11** **th** **) Tuesday Morning – Sunny**

Shifting in his bed, Koichi's eyes flickered open as he woke. Sitting up he gave both of his arms a quick stretch as he groaned. Standing, he arched his back, stretching out the sore muscles. The battle, if he could call it that, yesterday against the Persona had put unneeded stress on his body, the fact he was seriously out of practice didn't help.

"Damn, if I have to go back there more than once, I've gotta get back on track with my training routines. Wonder if I should tag along with Matsuko for some early morning exercise every now and then." He voiced his thoughts as he moved to get ready for the day.

"Still..." He paused as he buttoned his School shirt. "That guardian or Persona or whatever went at the two of us with the intent to kill. No matter how much I train, I'll be dead if I don't find a way to even things up. No use thinking about that now I guess though." He shook away the thoughts from his head as he finished dressing.

Making his way downstairs, he found no sign of Matsuko yet again. Koichi gave a sigh of relief, after missing class yesterday, he didn't want to risk running into Matsuko too soon, given her explosive temper was always on a short fuse. For now at least, asking her if she'd take him along on her morning workout would unfortunately have to wait. Taking the time to eat a sandwich in the hour or so before School, he soon emerged out into the town, the coastal air hitting his nose as he let out a deep breath. Koichi doubted he would get tired of the fresh salty scent, refreshing when he compared it to his old home's air quality.

Making his way outside of the front, he started on his way along the path toward the School, taking his time to look around at the area and get more familiar with the route as other students passed, chatting away. Eventually arriving at the top of the cliff the School rested on, Koichi made his way through the front gate and toward the main building. As he walked through the School's courtyard, he saw a familiar face take notice of him and give him a wave.

It was his senior, Hideo Miyara. He seemed to be chatting away with a pair of girls as Koichi passed by and gave the older student wave himself. He took a short glance at the girls Hideo was talking to as he headed for the School entrance and only got a good look at one. The girl looked to be taller than average with her brown hair in a long ponytail. She looked on at the transfer student with her blue eyes for a second before turning her attention to the Karate Club Captain.

"Hey, Miyara-Kun, I'm guessing he's the new guy you've been talking about, right?" She presumed as Hideo smiled and nodded.

"As expected, you got it in one. So, to welcome in our new member, I was thinking; why not have a _fun_ training session?"

As Koichi walked up the steps to the entrance of the School, his mind began to wonder. Before it could go anywhere though, he felt some force push at him from his side, snapping back to reality, he swivelled his body around to counter the imbalance and find whatever had struck him. He heard a thud shortly after he moved and looked to see another student had fallen flat on the ground and now sat rubbing the soreness away from the impact. Simultaneous laughing and multiple footsteps were heard as whoever did this to the student fled before Koichi could get a look at the culprits.

He gritted his teeth in mild annoyance for a moment, after which he turned to the student on the ground and offered a hand. Gratefully taking it, the young man was helped to his feet. When he stood, he dusted off his uniform, hoping he hadn't ended up dirtying it. Looking more closely at him, Koichi noticed that the student looked to be quite tall in comparison to himself, likely standing somewhere over six feet. He had bland, pale features and even blander paler grey eyes. His black hair was side swept and he sported a mid-length haircut.

"Hey thanks for the help." The young man said gratefully to Koichi who gave an acknowledging nod.

"No problem, those guys were giving you trouble right?" He assumed.

The student gave a shrug. "It's not really like that. You know what guys are like, always roughing each other up for fun. They were just messing around." He excused them, evading the topic with a nervous laugh.

Koichi shrugged, if that was how he wanted to play it, he didn't want to interfere. "I'll take your word for it, but if you are being bullied, you should learn to stand up for yourself before things get worse." He warned as he entered the building and headed to change to his indoor footwear at the lockers.

To his surprise the student followed him in, at first he thought nothing of it as the student changed into his own indoor shoes. As Koichi prepared to leave though, he noticed the student continue to follow him out of the corner of his eye. "Something else you want?"

"You're the new kid right? Koichi-San. I remember you from class yesterday. The name's Yasuo, Yasuo Ishihara, nice to meet you!" He said with a grin.

"I guess I don't need to introduce myself then. I'll see you around I guess." He waved off as he departed for homeroom.

Yasuo gave a defeated sigh. "Doesn't look like he's interested in being friends yet then. Maybe I'll try later." The student muttered as he strolled off.

Entering his homeroom and sitting down in the same seat he had on his first Day, Koichi scoped out the room. There were few in the room so far but this was right around the time students began to trickle in as the beginning of a long day of classes drew closer. Finally setting his gaze to the row of seats directly in front of him, he saw Sayomi sat patiently looking around at him from her seat.

"Oh, good morning Koichi-Kun!" She greeted happily to her latest acquaintance and partner in investigating the Dreamscape.

"Morning." He said bluntly, clearly reminded of the incident in the Dreamscape and the near-death situation they had shared the previous day. As he looked in deep thought about those events and the mysteries that surround them, Sayomi studied his face.

"Soo... Did you learn anything else about _that_ place or how we even got there?" She asked in a hushed tone, wanting no one else to become involved if she can help it.

Snapping back to reality, he gave her a shrug. "I guess we've got a start. Whatever happened when we crossed over, I think it's called the Bleeding Effect, but given how cryptic my source's answer was, that's only a guess, we're on our own on that end for now. As for that thing that attacked us. It's something called a Persona, ever heard of one of those before?"

Sayomi gave him a blank look and shrugged her shoulders. "No. Why, is it supposed to be common knowledge?"

"No, don't worry I didn't expect you to know either..." He grumbled a little. "That woman, she's not very helpful at all." He muttered under his breath, shaking his head.

"So, I've got after School activities first but if you don't mind waiting around, we can get started as soon as I'm finished."

Koichi gave her a short nod, he didn't mind, especially when his first attendance of the Karate Club was today and he saw it as good practice for the real battle ahead. "Don't worry about me, I've got a Club of my own to get to after school too so we'll meet up on the roof after school and see what we can figure out."

As he said that, more and more students began to trickle in and Sayomi's friend Momo greeted her and the pair started chatting. Soon enough, their homeroom Teacher entered and and Sayomi started the day as per her duties as class rep.

"Stand! Bow!" She commanded her peers as they followed suit, Koichi knew it was going to be a long day while he anticipated his next foray into the Dreamscape and what he would discover there.

* * *

One of his classes before Lunch was his English class. While most were acquainted with the Teacher, given Koichi was a recent transfer, the Teacher took the chance to introduce herself again, even if it was only a reminder to the rest, not that they should need it.

"Welcome to your English class, for those of you that don't know, I'm Toyoko Miyuki, I hope we can have a productive year. Now, class rep, if you'd be so kind as to hand out today's learning material, we'll begin."

She gestured to another young man in their class that Koichi hadn't noticed before wearing the same band as Sayomi. It was fairly standard practice to have two reps in a class, one from each gender, naturally. The other rep seemed quite reserved and happy to do all the grunt work in comparison to Sayomi, her outgoing nature and handling of daily tasks. Koichi thought that the pair could work well in that regard without stepping on each other's toes.

Once the books were passed out, Koichi opened his copy of the 'Arabian Nights' written in English and flipped to the page the Teacher had indicated as they read into a few of the shorter stories as a reading warm-up, then moving onto the tales of Sinbad. After some time had passed the Teacher asked the class to turn their attention back to her.

"Now class." Toyoko started. "Since we've done reading about the 'Seven Voyages of Sinbad', can anyone tell me another tale that wasn't originally part of the Anthology and was added later by European translators? Hmm..." She asked as her eyes scanned the room and landed on Koichi. It would help her to know if the new PE Teacher was more than just a pretty face. Perhaps her asking her younger brother this question would shed some light on how smart or stupid Matsuko might be. "Ozawa-San, do you know the answer?"

Koichi shifted in his seat. Now all eyes were on him and he was fairly uncomfortable being singled out and put on the spot like that. Needless to say, the students around him were also curious about his intelligence, was he someone they had to compete with for top grades or could they simply disregard him? As he stared at the Teacher, trying to figure out an answer, he eventually gave a shrug of his shoulders. "Sorry, English Literature isn't my strong suit, I don't know the answer."

The other students looked either disappointed to hear he wasn't the smartest or relieved that they weren't dealing with someone who had an edge over them in at least one subject. Koichi was just relieved that the pressure of people's expectations was off of him now.

"Disappointing... I guess my first impressions were right, Matsuko won't be anything to worry about then." Toyoko said before muttering under her breath about Matsuko.

Koichi looked to his books and notes, clearly he had a long way to go if he was going to do well and not get left behind. He'd have to go and expand his knowledge some time. He gave a smile as he remembered back to what his Grandfather always said to him about learning. _Koichi, a warrior never stops learning. If they do, they get left behind quickly and then they're no good to anybody._ The old man's words echoed in his head. He might've been a little blunt with his lessons but it always seemed the most effective approach.

"Ishihara-San, do you know the answer?" The English Teacher asked to the boy who Koichi had helped up earlier that morning. He hadn't really noticed Yasuo in the homeroom earlier or really paid attention to the morning role call but it was possible he came in around the same time as the majority of his class. Koichi chalked it up to his classmate being considerate of his space that he didn't follow him all the way there.

"Yeah, there's Aladdin's Wonderful Lamp for one and Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves is another example. Both were added to the text in the Eighteenth Century." Yasuo answered clearly to the Teacher who looked impressed with him. He may not look like it on the outside but he was definitely smart, something Koichi noted, maybe he had the guy all wrong. He wasn't a bad guy after all, he just came on a little _too_ strong the first time. Maybe he could pick his brain at least, after all he didn't want to fall behind, especially when it was just the beginning of the year.

* * *

 **Tuesday Lunchtime**

Once the bell had sounded for Lunch and the students had turned the Classroom into a lunch room, Koichi had headed out in search of the School's food vendor, only to find a vending machine that gave out fruit in one of the hallways and decided to buy an apple from there instead. He decided to use this time to get his bearings so he could find his way through the School easier. As he turned a corner, he bumped into someone, not seeing them walking due to their short height and small frame. An easy mistake to make.

"Wah!" A girly voice cried out as the person fell to the ground.

"Woah! Sorry, that's my fault, I wasn't watching where I was going!" Koichi apologised profusely as he helped the younger student to her feet. Examining her closely, he got the feeling he'd seen her somewhere before... But he can't quite put his finger on where he'd seen the girl with shoulder length blonde locks and amber eyes before.

"No, it's okay! Really, it was just an accident, right?" She dismissed his apologies as the feeling of emergency after he had watched her fall died down. "Wait a minute..." She said as she squinted her eyes at him. Koichi didn't know if the young girl was trying to intimidate him or not but her non-threatening appearance dashed any chance of her unnerving her Upperclassman. "You're the new Black Belt Hideo-Senpai was talking about this morning! It's great to meet you, I'm-"

As the girl was about to continue, a tough but feminine voice called out from the direction she came as the older girl Koichi had noticed talking with Hideo jogged toward them. "Hey Yurisa, you need to slow down! You know you can't go running around the halls, you could tire yourself out or run into someone." She stopped to see the two stood there and was quick to put two and two together as the girl named Yurisa looked at the other girl guiltily with an apologetic look on her face. "Just don't worry me like that, okay?"

"It's a promise!" Yurisa beamed, now back to the cheerful demeanour she had taken when she had recognised Koichi.

"And you." The older girl addressed Koichi as she faced him and then held back a chuckle. "I guess this' a weird way to meet a new teammate... or two. I'm Iwao Nagamatsu, Co-Captain of the Kuronai Academy Karate Club, pleased to meet you. And this-"

"Is her super cute Sister, Yurisa Nagamatsu!" Yurisa beamed interrupting her much more collected older sibling. "I'm also part of the Karate Club, when I can make it that is..." She trailed off before Iwao patted her on the back.

"It's no big deal Sis, you always do your best regardless, that's what counts." She consoled her as she took her by the shoulder. "Come on, you said you needed to go to the Nurse's office, right?" She reminded her younger sibling as they began to walk off.

"It was nice to meet you both too!" Koichi waved off the girls as they headed further into the school. He couldn't help but wonder what that was about but he decided that it wasn't his place to ask.

* * *

Returning to his Classroom, Koichi began to make his way to his seat to eat his healthy but lacklustre meal. As he walked, he spotted Sayomi and her bespectacled friend talking again, the latter giggling as she spotted Koichi while Sayomi's face flushed a little.

Koichi's eyes narrowed as he approached, scrutinising their faces and trying to determine just _what_ they'd been talking about before sitting down, at which point they became completely quiet. "Sound like you two are having fun."

"I wouldn't call it fun." Sayomi downplays it as Momo sniggers to herself.

"Oh we were just talking about Mph-!" The student tried to explain before the class rep wrapped a hand around her friend's mouth to stop her from talking.

"Absolutely nothing!" She put on a fake smile, acting like nothing was up when it clearly was but Koichi knew better than to involve himself with whatever girl talk the two were having.

"Anyway, just checking we're still on for later today, right?" He asked blankly, not knowing that his phrasing combined with the girls' previous conversation caused Sayomi's cheeks to turn a tinge of pink as she offered a confirming smile.

She wasn't one to react that way to talking with a classmate but thanks to a certain _someone's_ teasing, she couldn't help herself. "Yeah, I'll meet you on the rooftop after school."

Sayomi hadn't realised she had removed her hand from her friend's mouth, her friend's mouth that now displayed an impish grin. "Oh? You've got _plans_ after School on the _rooftop._ Oh so that's your plan Sayomi-Chan!"

"Wait Momo, you've got it all wrong! It's not like that!" She could feel the embarrassment rising out from her forehead at this point. "He's just helping me with some umm..." She stalled, trying to think of an excuse that technically wasn't a lie. "Safety checks on the roof. Can't have anyone falling after all! Hahaha!" She did a short, obviously fake laugh as she tried to turn Momo's attention away.

"Clearly this isn't going anywhere, just make sure you're ready, I'll do the danger work myself. The sooner we figure out all the dangerous parts, the sooner we can fix them." He told her bluntly before turning all his attention to the apple he was eating and blocking out any other sound in the room.

* * *

 **Tuesday After School**

Once the final bell of the day had rang and clean up for the day had finished, Koichi made his way through the hallways of Kuronai Academy. Eventually he made his way into the Kuronai Karate Club Dojo, an extension build specifically for Martial Arts practice. Opening the sliding glass door, he noticed the well cleaned tatami mats, perfect for training on. The rest of the Dojo was simplistic and traditional in design. A cabinet contained trophies and photos while calligraphy scrolls rested on either side of the case and Martial Arts weapons were on display across some of the more bare walls.

Walking in he was greeted by Hideo. The Team Captain held a white Gi in his hands, with the School's logo patched on the left breast of the jacket. A plain black belt rested atop the ensemble. "Glad you showed up! Here, a welcoming present from everyone. Don't worry, Coach Ozawa made sure it would fit you first."

Koichi sighed to himself. He appreciated the gesture from them but he knew this was more his sister's doing than theirs, maybe a way to make him feel like he can't back out now no matter what. Given how he'd not brought his own today just in case he didn't need it, it was much appreciated given how many people from the Club were assembled and fully kitted out. Clearly this wasn't going to be easy nor was it going to be something boring like exercise drills.

"Thanks. I'll go get changed, then I'll see what you've got planned for me." He told them, letting them know he knew they had something in store for him and it was pretty obvious to him what they were planning.

Once he had changed, Koichi faced the floor while all the other Club members sat knelt at the sides of the Dojo floor. Stepping onto the floor, he smirked, he knew what this was and he was happy to finally get back to some real fighting. "So." He said as he stretched out and rolled his shoulders. "Who's first?"

"Well since I already know how experienced you are, I think it'd be unfair if we put a new starter against you, same with most of our members. I think you need a real challenge, so how about you fight the two strongest at the club? Iwao, you're up first."

Stepping onto the floor Iwao had an intense look in her eyes as she kept her guard up at all times. As they faced each other, their hands by their sides, Hideo stood adjacent to them. "Rei!" He called, ordering them to bow. The two comply instinctively. "Yoi!" He called next, the two entering a ready stance at his command. The tension between the two fighters was building as they focused on each other. Hideo held a hand out between them, as soon as he gave the go, he'd see just how good Koichi was. "Hajime!" He started the fight, bringing his hand down as the two started their bout.

Iwao started off aggressively, jabbing forward at her opponent who reacted quickly and blocked her punches with ease. As Koichi retreated he controlled the positioning of the fight but it was clear that Iwao was increasing the intensity of her attacks. A small smile creased Koichi's lips. She was holding up well, maybe it was time he started taking her a little more seriously now too. His smile dropped as he misjudged a kick for a feint and got struck in the ribs with a roundhouse kick.

Her power was pretty impressive. "Yeah you go Sis!" Was heard from the younger Nagamatsu sister who watched with the others from the sidelines. Koichi watched as Iwao took her eyes off of him for a split second to give a side glance and smile at Yurisa. Since this was a friendly match, he let it slide just this once. Next time a distraction like that happened, he wouldn't be so lenient.

Once Iwao returned her attention to the fight, they exchanged blocks and blows, for close to a minute. Koichi watched her movements and distancing closely. The style she did preferred longer stances and more reach. Any second now, he would exploit that. Taking the opening he saw, in a split second, he slipped under Iwao's guard and delivered a short but high powered punch into her body, knocking her back. As Iwao stumbled, she rested her hands on her knees before holding her hand up in surrender. The others who had been watching were stunned. Had he really been playing around all along? It was a good well placed punch and it did the trick. All they could say is that he was living up to the rumours about him.

Once Iwao had recovered, Hideo brought the match to a close. "Yame!" He called to end the bout. "Winner!" He declared, raising his hand to Koichi's side of the Dojo.

As they finished up formalities, the two bowed respectfully to each other. "You're pretty good Iwao, you had me worried with some of that explosive power you've got but I think there's some things you could work on to be even better."

Iwao smiled, it'd been the first time anyone other than Hideo had beaten her, so it was a welcome change of pace. "Thanks. I didn't expect you to pull a move like that though."

"Well, you needed space to get your attacks in but you were really fast, I didn't have to long to react and it could've gone either way really. I'm glad for my sake it all worked out, that rib kick earlier was something else." He complimented, tapping on his ribs where her kick had impacted and chuckling at the thought of finally talking shop with others like him again.

"Alright, nice moves. A hard fast combat style, Gosoku-Ryu if I'm not wrong." Hideo deduces as they prepare to face up.

Koichi shrugs. "Maybe, maybe not." He said, clearly in no mood to divulge his own style of Karate.

"Keeping your style a secret. Fair enough, let's see how you fair against Kuronai's number one Karateka!"

After quite a lengthy fight that resulted in a mutually decided draw so other club members could have fun fighting, Hideo and Koichi joined Iwao on the bench. "You two have got pretty similar fighting styles, I'm guessing that's not a coincidence."

Hideo nodded. "Let's just say we've been training together for a long time."

"More like you've been upstaging me for a long time!" Iwao laughed, giving him a light, playful jab in the arm. "Our families are close, have been since Hideo moved here as a kid where he joined my family's Dojo and we met there." She explained to Koichi.

"I'd actually learned enough at my old Dojo before I moved here that I'm a little more experienced than her though, not that we aren't pretty much equal in skill." He rubbed the back of his neck.

"I see, well you weren't technically wrong about my style." He brought up the topic from before his spar with Hideo. "It's a... composite style that runs in the family, kind of like a hybrid of the most effective stuff all in one. It can be mistaken for other styles though." he vaguely explained his own form to them.

"Sounds cool, I look forward to seeing what other surprises you have for us. Maybe you could come down to the Nagamatsu Dojo in town some time and train." Hideo suggested.

"Well, more strength training would be good for me." Koichi voiced his thoughts before realising the time. "Oh. I've gotta go, I'll see you guys soon!" He waved as he headed to change back into his uniform and head to the rooftop to begin his other extracurricular activity.

* * *

Meeting with Sayomi on the rooftop, they made sure no one else was around to snoop before they got down to business. He was grateful for the sparring sessions now he thought about the prospect of going up against that Persona again. The first thing they thought they should figure out was how exactly they ended up in the Dreamscape in the first place.

"Okay, let's retrace our steps." Sayomi said as they thought back to the day before.

Koichi walked over to the fencing and looked out at the Ocean spanning out from the shore. "Well I was here taking a break when you walked out onto the roof talking to your parents."

Sayomi remembered and took out her phone. Since the incident, it had worked perfectly, with no trace of whatever had done that to her phone remaining behind. "Yeah, I was worried about them. Then after I saw you and we started talking about them, I was thinking about ways I could help them and lighten their burden. That's when my phone started vibrating on its own." She said thinking back as those feelings came back to her. She wished her parents didn't have to work so much but she understood their work was important.

Koichi scratched his chin, some of this was starting to come together. "Well if it was that on its own, your phone might've gone off again, so it's safe to say that's not the reason but I think we're on the right track."

Sayomi nodded, pulling her phone out in an effort to replicate the incident from yesterday. "So after my phone buzzed like crazy, static filled the screen and then green lightning came from it and hit the ground. Then that portal appeared under our feet."

Koichi nodded as he returned from the fence and stood closer to Sayomi, near the wall of the stairwell. "So if that's not it... What are we missing?" He pondered.

Neither of them could think of anything and after a few minutes of getting nowhere, Sayomi finally had enough. "Arrr... This is so frustrating! Why can't we figure this out!? We've thought of everything but we still don't know how this works! If we don't figure this out then the other students could... Damn it!" She launched into a tirade of yelling, taking Koichi by surprise.

She was frustrated with herself for not figuring this out yet and it was clear she was concerned with everyone's safety and wanted to keep everyone safe. Though it was surprising she could get so outraged, Koichi cracked a small smile as Sayomi's phone began vibrating intensely.

"Looks like that did the trick." Koichi said as she looked to her phone and it shot the green hued lighting out once more, this time striking the nearby wall as a portal opened up on it.

Sayomi quickly calmed down once they had figured it out. "At least it didn't open up underneath us this time." She said with a relieved sigh, she didn't feel like falling from that kind of height again after last time.

Koichi snapped his fingers as he finally pieced it together. "Okay, I think I get it now. So let's put it this way. You had an ambition right, stirred by genuine emotion in the moment, first it was talking to me about wanting to help your parents, then it was when you got angry about not being to keep the other students safe from this." He explained.

"That makes sense I guess, but that doesn't explain my phone, or why this hasn't happened before up here." She offered up further questions.

He already thought of those answers though. Now it had happened twice in the same place, he was pretty sure he knew what was going on. "So think of your ambition as fuel for the portal. Now your phone might be a focus so that the portal can manifest. I can't be certain but since it's happened the same way twice, it makes most sense right now. I don't know what makes the roof so special but we'll figure that out eventually. Last, I think it didn't work the first time because I wasn't standing close enough to you for it to take effect." He explained, only for Sayomi to give him a weird look.

"Uh, what's that supposed to mean?" She was lost after the last part, understandably so given he hadn't explained yet exactly how he was tied to the Dreamscape.

"Well I said I've been to the other world before, turns out I'm something called a Dream Walker. I can travel between the real world and the Dreamscape while I sleep. Yesterday was the first time I've been there physically though. I was just thinking that what if my power acted as a trigger for the whole thing and I'm the reason this happened."

Sayomi thought for a moment and then nodded. "I guess that makes sense. So ambition is the fuel source, my phone or even just a phone is the focus and you're the trigger then." She summed up his theory to which he nodded. Relief washed over her in that moment. Fortunately the other students were safe so long as those there components didn't come together.

Clearly Koichi had the same thought as he gave her a nod. "Yeah, altogether it makes a portal, or a bleed as I'm gonna call it. You've been a big help, thanks for figuring this out with me. You can head home now. I've got things from here." He thanked her briefly before turning toward the portal and entering, much to Sayomi's surprise.

"Hey, wait! Where do you think you're going!?" She called after him but he had already crossed over and couldn't hear him. She took a nervous glance at the portal, knowing the danger that lurked on the other side and then hastily entered the portal. Once she walked through it, the portal closed shut, leaving no trace of either of them.

* * *

 **Dreamscape – Cloud Boulevard**

After emerging from the other side of the bleed, Koichi found himself on the same surface of the cloud platform from his previous visits. He was starting to think that this place was some kind of lobby inside the Dreamscape. He spotted the same guardian before, waiting patiently for any intruders so he could cut them down.

As he started toward the monkey-like creature, he heard a voice call out from behind him. Turning, he saw Sayomi. His body quickly tensed, she had obviously followed after him for some reason. Either way, it wasn't safe for her here and he'd have to make sure she didn't get caught in the upcoming fight.

"Wait, Koichi! You don't have to go through with this. We already figured out what was going on, we can just leave it be now, you don't have to put yourself in danger." She said, expressing concern for her classmate considering the injury he had received last time he fought the guardian and his Persona.

He shook his head firmly and looked her in the eyes with a stern expression. "I can't let this go. Finding out how we got here was just the start of it. I need to get to the bottom of this mystery and I need to start somewhere, no matter how dangerous it is. You don't have to get involved so just leave, before you get yourself hurt." He told her as he turned and began walking toward the guardian once more.

She tried to offer some retort to his comments but he was right, she wasn't of any use here. She wasn't strong enough to help him like she wanted to. But as she grimaced, something stirred in her to follow her classmate. Although she followed at a safe distance, she steeled her nerves to see this through, she wasn't about to let him get hurt again because he was reckless.

As Koichi approached, the guardian looked at him, acknowledging him. "So... You've finally come back. I bet you couldn't resist trying to invade others' dreams again, could you?" The creature scowled as it drew the same coin from before and flipped it into the air before running it trough into the ground with his sword, shattering it to pieces. "Come forth, my other self!" He chanted as Georgios materialised and charged Koichi with terrifying speed.

Koichi was taken aback by the change in his foe. It was much faster than before, catching its opponent by surprise as it slashed and lunged at him, not letting up for a second. Koichi kept up his tactical retreat, leaping back just before each attack but he was quickly running out of breath. He couldn't keep this up much longer.

"Now Georgios, show him your true power!" The guardian ordered as from Georgios' longsword, a gale of fire erupted, ensnaring Koichi who shielded his eyes from the blaze. While he was unable to react, Georgios burst through the flames and thrust its sword into its opponent, wasting no time to withdraw it as the flames dispersed and Georgios dematerialised.

Koichi gritted his teeth and resisted the urge to cough as he put a hand to his new wound and felt his strength being sapped from him. Was this really it? Was this how he was going to die? His knees buckled and he dropped down onto them. He was trying his best not to give into the pain and the fatigue but he was losing his grip on reality. He didn't want to go, he wasn't ready yet, there's so much more he wanted to do...

 _"Are you finally awake Koichi? Are you ready to make your ambitions manifest? Or will you let yourself lose at first hurdle? You're content to lose so easily, have you no ambition to win?"_ A familiar voice rang out in Koichi's head.

Although he was barely conscious, he could still manage to get out some words. "I won't... Lose this fight... Even if it..." He paused, steadying his breathing as he sluggishly got onto one knee and tried to stand up.

"Koichi... Please get out of there!" Sayomi shouted from where she watched, fear filling her after seeing the Persona run him through like that. But her words fell on deaf ears.

"Even if it kills me." He muttered under his breath as he spat out blood.

The voice let out a soft chuckle. _"There's your fighting spirit... Very well, I've been waiting a long time for this."_

As Koichi stood facing his opponent defiantly, he saw a blue butterfly, radiating a soft glow fly gracefully around him for a few seconds as he felt his strength returning before it finally vanished. As he came to his senses, he found a scimitar and a green glass coin in his hand. The coin was engraved with a zero on each face.

"Huh? He's okay." Sayomi mumbled to herself as she watched him magically heal before her eyes. "What's happening?"

" _Now, our pact will be made, Koichi Ozawa."_ The same voice from before started. _"I am thou, thou art I. From the sea of thy soul I come. The one who has conquered the Seven Seas and fought countless terrors in the name of adventure, an ambition for victory unparalleled! Now shout my name to the Heavens!"_

Thinking back to how the guardian had summoned his Persona with his weapon, Koichi knew what he would have to do. He held his scimitar at his waist and closed his eyes. Flipping the coin into the air, he let his senses guide him, he waited until the right moment as he swung his sword horizontally and sliced the coin in two, the two pieces clattering to the ground as Koichi inhaled sharply. "Come to me, Sinbad!"

As he called out the name of his Persona, a green aura burst from Koichi's coin and wrapped itself around his body as his eyes flashed, becoming bright yellow. From the aura surrounding him, a figure emerged. This one looked much different from Georgios. Thinking back to his first night in Kuronai, it looked like the same figure he saw in his dream. The large man with golden brown skin, his prominent muscular figure, the long and baggy white pants clinging loosely to his waist, the colourful open vest loosely hung on his shoulders. Even the turban and cloth veil over his face was an exact match to the figure from his dream, which was confirmed as he drew the same scimitar from his side.

"Woah, he can summon one of those too... Then maybe he can win after all." Sayomi said as her eyes sparkled with hope. "You Can do it Koichi!" She exclaimed her support to her classmate now he had this newfound power.

"Okay Sinbad, let's take this guy down!" He ordered the Persona as he motioned his hand to the guardian, who had already summoned Georgios again.

Gliding through the air, Sinbad locked weapons with Georgios. As the two tried to out power each other, the guardian motioned with his hand.

"Light him up Georgios!" He commanded as the Persona unleashed another whirlwind of fire and directed it at the Persona.

"Sinbad, fight back!" Koichi retaliated as he poured his aggression into the order, spurring Sinbad to fight harder.

As its wielder commanded, Sinbad unleashed a powerful torrent of water, blasting Georgios back with extreme force. As the torrent subsided, Georgios collapsed to the ground next to the exhausted guardian before fading away. Koichi let out a relieved sigh. He managed to do it. Looking at his own Persona, it lowered its scimitar before also fading away. At least the danger had passed for now.

Sprinting up to him, Sayomi looked at him, her face clearly displaying the awe she was in at that moment. "Wow that was amazing, you summoned one of those Persona things and beat his like it was nothing!" She paused for a moment and her eyes looked softly at him. "You're not hurt or anything are you?"

He reassured her with a short smile. "I haven't felt this good in a long while. So, how about we get some answers from our friend there." He pointed at the guardian as he started toward him.

The guardian shook his head as he stood up and tried to wrap his head around the situation. "All that power... could he be..." He mumbled as Koichi and Sayomi walked up.

"So now I've beat you, mind telling us why you attacked us in the first place?" Koichi asked, his face was stern but his voice didn't show any trace of anger.

"I admit defeat. I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions like that. I don't trust outsiders and thought you were trying to enter people's dreams for your own malicious purposes. But when we fought... I can see that I was wrong about you now."

"Huh, what's him fighting got to do with whether or not he's a good person?" Sayomi asked, clearly perplexed by his reasoning.

"He summoned a Persona, but not just any Persona."

"Wait, what's so special about my Persona?" Koichi asked this time.

"Your Persona belongs to the Fool Arcana, as do you. It means you're a special one and..." He paused, kneeling to one knee while holding his sword in his palms, offering it to Koichi. "I'd be honoured to become your servant, if you'll have me."

"Woah!" Koichi exclaimed, taken aback by the out there request. "We don't even know each other yet and you want to become my servant? What's with you?"

"My apologies! I should explain first. I'm the guardian of this place and I made a vow to protect the Dreamers of this place from the Shadows that try to infest their dreams... But seeing how quickly you overpowered me. You're leagues ahead of me, please teach me your ways and help me save the Dreamers here from the Shadows." He pleaded, still knelt before Koichi.

"Fine, I'll help you. Given how dangerous this place is, it couldn't hurt to fight _with_ you instead of against you. Get up already." He told the guardian, who reluctantly did so.

"Then you'll not take me on as a servant?" He asked, looking a little dejected.

"My Gradfather always said 'anything worth doing should be done yourself' basically anyone with servants gets lazy and into bad habits, that's not my style." Koichi explained to the guardian. "Let's just start off as teammates, friends if you want? I'm Koichi, this is Sayomi. It's okay, she's a good person too."

"It's a pleasure to meet you both! You can call me Dewey." He introduced, his mouth growing into a wide grin. Though the guardia didn't admit to it, Koichi thought that Dewey was glad to finally have people to at least call comrades.

"It's great to meet you too Dewey, I'm sure we'll be great friends in no time!" Sayomi beamed, back to her cheerful demeanour, relieved that at least Dewey had finally seen the error of his ways.

"You too Sayomi-Chan! So, my Master, is there anything you'd like to know about the Dreamscape or are you ready to teach me your ways already?" He asked eagerly.

Sayomi stifled a chuckle. "Seems someone's eager to get started."

Kocihi rubbed the back of his neck and gave a sheepish smile. "I'm not sure I'm ready to be called 'Master' just yet. Actually... We should get back to our own world now. We'll be back tomorrow, that alright with you Dewey?"

He looked a little disappointed but nodded anyway. "That's okay with me, my Master."

Sayomi looked slightly confused about something. "Wait you said _we'll_ be back, does that mean?"

"Yeah." Koichi nodded, cutting her off before she could finish. "I'm sorry I was harsh before. I'm still concerned about your safety but now I've got this power and Dewey can back us up, I don't see a reason why you can't tag along."

Sayomi beamed once more, her mouth widening to a grin as she let out a cheery laugh. "I'm so glad, I was afraid I'd have to sneak in again next time."

Koichi couldn't help but chuckle too. He knew this was only the beginning of things and he had to admit, he did like having Sayomi around to help him uncover the mystery of the Dreamscape like she'd helped him discover the secret behind crossing over to it physically. He didn't know where they would go from here but he knew this was just the beginning of their journey.

 **|SOA|**

 **That's chapter 3 and it's been a long time coming, sorry about that but I wanted this to be the best I could make it before releasing it. That coupled with technical issues made this long overdue. I want to tell everyone who's sent a review so far, thanks for that and I took the criticisms and advice to heart with this, or at least I hope I did. I changed Dewey up a lot and now he's a more serious and stoic character, which I like more than the idea of how childish he was thinking back to my original idea of him.**

 **To answer a question about the OC submissions, the Persona can basically be any historical/mythological/fictional etc. character that had strong ambitions and goals and have some similarity to their wielder. I guess I was a little vague on what you could do with that so hopefully this clears that up. On the topic of OCs, I've only received a few but they look really good and if anyone wants to submit any more, you're welcome to!**

 **So this got unexpectedly longer than I expected it to, honestly this might be the longest single chapter I've written to date and I still have a few extra scenes planned post Dreamscape fight that I was going to do but I cut them so this wouldn't drag on further. Not to worry though since I'm going to use them in a shorter .5 chapter up next that'll be focusing on the first Social Links/Confidants being formed. So that's all for now an thanks for reading!**

 **[Preview]**

After the immediate Danger had passed and Koichi made a pact with Dewey, a brief calm set over the Fool's life and while he had resolved to investigate the mystery surrounding the Dreamscape with Sayomi while protecting it alongside Dewey, he had time to focus on his own life. But now he has awakened to his new power, what do the denizens of the Velvet Room have in store for him?

Next Time: First Bonds


End file.
